Seagate cooks up game-changing cloud storage hardware

Brags about "reinventing" or "disrupting" this or that kind of technology are so common these days they might as well be white noise. But Seagate seems to have just developed a new kind of storage system for the cloud that might well be quite disruptive -- if it ever gets implemented by cloud builders.

Seagate calls it the Kinetic Open Storage platform, and it's designed as a way to enable cloud data centers to improve the way they handle storage by having the storage system itself offload as much of the processing related to storage as possible.

Here's how it works in plain English: KOS involves hard drives that use Ethernet as their sole physical interconnect. Not Ethernet as in an SATA-attached drive with an Ethernet controller, but Ethernet, period. Instead of using an OS-level filesystem, data is fetched from and stored to the drives using a key/value system serialized with Google's Protocol Buffers mechanism. (The API used for data access is to be open source.) Most everything else you'd associate with cloud data center storage is done away with.

A crucial thing about this setup, Seagate claims, is how it moves many of the issues normally associated with the OS or storage-management layer -- quality of service, migrating data between drives, at-rest encryption, etc. -- to the drives themselves. By getting rid of much of the hardware associated with the traditional storage tier, you make racks denser, use less energy per unit of storage, leverage the existing data-transport fabric in the data center (i.e., Ethernet), and have storage "truly ... disaggregated from compute".

Another professed advantage to ditching all of that cruft is an increase in write performance -- up to 400 percent, according to David Chernicoff at ZDNet. Ditto any common file manipulation, like copying or moving from one drive to another: All of that can be offloaded to the drives themselves.

A break this radical from the way storage traditionally works wouldn't come without a cost, though. Here, the cost would be software development, as every piece of software that touches a file system in some way would have to be reworked to use KOS. Even with the KOS tools offered for free -- e.g., the drive simulator and developer's tools, and the KOS API itself -- the cost of such re-working would be far from trivial.

One of the reasons why drop-in replacements for existing storage systems are so appealing is because, well, they're drop-in replacements. Many of the problems still faced by cloud storage systems -- e.g., write bottlenecks -- are solved either by throwing more hardware at the problem, or at the software level, by more intelligently managing data throughput. Microsoft's new release of Windows Server has some intriguing new storage features in this vein, for instance.

But again, tossing out the entire storage layer as we know it is a colossal project.There isn't even a date set for when the hardware itself will be available to testers, let alone vendors or end users. And the costs of moving to such hardware in the long run can't be ignored -- including the sunk costs of ditching so much existing legacy storage. (There's no word on if existing drives could be retrofit to use this system; I don't think it's likely.)

All this leaves a wide margin of time to see whether or not Seagate's new game-changer really will change any games. But the bare outlines of the idea alone are tantalizing.

This story, "Seagate cooks up game-changing cloud storage hardware," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/storage/seagate-cooks-game-changing-cloud-storage-hardware-229572
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Ugandan shilling seen range bound ahead of inflation data

By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA (Reuters) - The Ugandan shilling was flat on Monday and expected to trade in a tight range ahead of October inflation data this week, with some traders forecasting a surge in prices that could pressure the central bank to raise its key interest rate.

At 0923 GMT commercial banks quoted the currency of east Africa's third-largest economy at 2,525/2,530, unchanged from Friday's close.

"Inflation is likely to edge up but it's the level of increase that will likely determine whether the central bank will tighten its stance," said David Kamugisha, trader at Stanbic Bank.

"If the increase in prices is significant then Bank of Uganda (BoU) might be forced to increase the CBR (central bank rate)."

Inflation data is due to be released on October 31.

An increase in the CBR would push up already high borrowing costs and support the local currency, which has traded on a largely strong footing this year, underpinned mostly by companies' sluggish appetite for hard currency.

This month the central bank kept the CBR at 12 percent despite a surge in headline annual inflation to 8 percent last month, from 7.3 percent in August.

"If this week's auction draws inflows the shilling could be biased toward a stronger side but the 2,520-2,530 range is likely to hold," a trader at a leading commercial bank said.

On Wednesday the central bank is due to sell 145 billion shillings worth of Treasury bills of all maturities.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ugandan-shilling-seen-range-bound-ahead-inflation-data-103810337--business.html
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Brent edges up after 3-days of losses; Federal Reserve eyed

TOKYO (Reuters) - Brent crude futures edged up to above $107 a barrel in cautious early Asia trade on Monday, taking a break after three days of losses as investors wait on the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting later this week.

Brent fell 2.7 percent last week, its biggest weekly decline in a month, amid concerns about higher supply and faltering demand, despite signs of faster economic growth in major consumer China.

London Brent crude for December delivery was trading 27 cents higher at $107.20 a barrel by 0157 GMT, after settling down 6 cents on Friday. U.S. crude for December delivery was down 14 cents at $97.71 a barrel.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting from Tuesday will be closely watched, but is unlikely to lead to any shift in monetary policy as the bank waits for more evidence of how badly Washington's budget battle has hurt the U.S. economy.

Analysts say the Fed could stand pat for the rest of the year as economic data released since a partial government shutdown ended has been surprisingly weak. Job growth slowed in September, a period that preceded the government's 16-day partial shutdown, and business investment plans flagged.

"It looks like we are getting farther and farther away from the tapering of U.S. easing," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity sales manager at Newedge Japan.

"When there was a near consensus that the tapering should begin from around November, the market easily made one-sided bets, but now we don't know whether that happens by the end of the year, so the market is hard to move in either direction in light trading."

Brent oil is expected to rebound to $107.65 per barrel, as it has completed a five-wave cycle, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

IRAN TALKS

The market will also keep an eye on talks between experts from Iran and six world powers on October 30-31 to prepare the next round of high-level talks on the contested Iranian nuclear programme with hopes of a breakthrough rising thanks to a diplomatic opening from Tehran.

Western diplomats say the meeting, scheduled to take place a week before the next round of negotiations in Geneva in November, could be instrumental in defining the contours of any preliminary agreement on Iran's uranium enrichment campaign.

Iran has not halted its most sensitive uranium enrichment work, a senior Iranian parliamentarian said on Saturday, contradicting a statement by another lawmaker last week.

Any halt of enrichment would be a big surprise, as Western experts believe Iran would want to use such activity as a bargaining chip to win relief from international sanctions.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brent-edges-3-days-losses-federal-eyed-071632392--finance.html
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First Listen: Midlake, 'Antiphon'

Midlake's new album, Antiphon, comes out Nov. 5.

Sammy Reed/Courtesy of the artist

Midlake's new album, Antiphon, comes out Nov. 5.

Sammy Reed/Courtesy of the artist

Midlake does grand the way Pink Floyd did. The Denton, Texas band's members have big ideas and a sound that feels like a massive orchestra, with arrangements that build and unfold. All of this is done with more rock and less folk, yet still a timeless style. It reaches back while feeling present.

With Midlake's latest album, Antiphon, fans of the band will notice not just a more upbeat group, but a new lead singer. Eric Pulido, who's also the band's guitarist, replaces former frontman Tim Smith. The shift, announced back in August, presented major changes for the group: Midlake was already deep into recording its fourth album when Smith left, which forced the band to scrap a lot of work and find a new sound. It wasn't simply a sound that replaced Smith, but an entire regrouping, as the remaining members rediscovered their own talents.

And Pulido isn't singing alone. At times Antiphon feels like an ensemble of singers is carrying these moody, wistful rockers. There's a freedom on this record, which at times comes off as joy, other times as adventure. But at all times it feels like Midlake's best album in years.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/27/240566876/first-listen-midlake-antiphon?ft=1&f=1039
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Phoenix shooting leaves family, dogs, gunman dead

PHOENIX (AP) — Authorities released details Sunday from a weekend shooting attack that left four family members and two dogs dead at a central Phoenix townhouse before the gunman turned the weapon on himself.

Michael Guzzo, 56, killed his next door neighbors in a deadly confrontation Saturday that may have been touched off by loud barking, police said.

Phoenix police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said there is "some indication that perhaps that was a problem." But he added that because of the deaths, a motive may never be known.

The victims have been identified as Bruce Moore, 66; his daughter, Renee Moore, 36; her husband, who took his wife's name, Michael Moore, 42; and Renee's son, Shannon Moore, 17.

After the killings, Guzzo shot at another townhouse before returning to his unit and killing himself, police said.

Police said they found a pump shotgun, apparently the weapon used in the killings, next to his body. Thompson said there was no indication he had a violent past.

A neighbor said Guzzo usually kept to himself.

"I've seen him every morning — come in quiet every morning," Donald McKenzie told Phoenix television station KSAZ-TV (http://bit.ly/1a8DGFH ). "Never would expect him to be the guy who did this at all."

Another neighbor, Barry Hatchett, told Phoenix station KNXV-TV (http://bit.ly/19JezfR ) that he was friends with Renee Moore. Hatchett said he had planned to take his dog to the Moore's home for a grooming appointment later Saturday.

After shooting the Moores and the dogs, Guzzo then walked across the large complex and shot at the door and second floor of another townhouse, police said.

KNXV-TV reports the second home belongs to Libni DeLeon, who said bullet holes are now scattered around his house.

DeLeon told the station he heard a knock Saturday morning before the gunman shot through his front door.

"I ran upstairs and when I got there I got a glance at him, and I yelled at him, and he turned around and shot two more rounds upstairs," DeLeon said.

No one was injured at the home.

___

AP Writer Barry Massey contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-27-Phoenix-Five%20Dead/id-1b95f25ae5064586ac6be7c0da0b728b
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Cardinals Even World Series With Game 2 Win Over Red Sox

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Michael Wacha pitches Thursday in Boston, where he was the winning pitcher in the Cardinals' 4-2 victory.

Matt Slocum/AP

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Michael Wacha pitches Thursday in Boston, where he was the winning pitcher in the Cardinals' 4-2 victory.

Matt Slocum/AP

The St. Louis Cardinals evened the World Series at one game each Thursday night, using a three-run 7^th inning to defeat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2.

The Cardinals held a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning, when 37-year-old Red Sox veteran David Ortiz broke up a scoreless outing by the Cardinals' 22-year-old rookie pitcher, Michael Wacha, with a two-run homerun.

The Cardinals then took a 4-2 lead with three runs in the 7^th, which included a double-steal by the Cardinals and two Red Sox errors on a single play.

After two games at Boston's Fenway Park, the Series now moves to St. Louis for games 3, 4 and 5, beginning Saturday. If needed, the final two games would be played back in Boston.

After Wednesday's 8-1 Red Sox victory, Thursday's contest — played in temperatures in the 40s — was a pitching contest until the late innings. Wacha pitched six innings of three-hit ball, and was the winning pitcher. Boston starter John Lackey also was sharp, pitching 6 1/3-innings of five-hit ball, but took the loss.

Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran, injured making a grand-slam-stealing catch over the outfield wall in Game 1, was back on the field, and went two-for-four with an RBI.

Before Thursday's loss, the Red Sox — a franchise that famously suffered an 86-year championship drought before its 2004 sweep of the Cardinals — had won nine straight World Series games.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/24/240637704/cardinals-even-world-series-with-game-2-win-over-red-sox?ft=1&f=1001
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Gomes, Red Sox beat Cards 4-2 to even WS at 2-all

Boston Red Sox Mike Napoli, right, pulls Jonny Gomes' beard after Gomes hit a three run home run off of St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Seth Maness, left, during the sixth inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis.(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Boston Red Sox Mike Napoli, right, pulls Jonny Gomes' beard after Gomes hit a three run home run off of St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Seth Maness, left, during the sixth inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis.(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Boston Red Sox's Mike Napoli (12) pulls the beard of Jonny Gomes after Gomes hit a three-run home run during the sixth inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Boston Red Sox's Jonny Gomes celebrates his three-run home run off St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Seth Maness, left, during the sixth inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Boston Red Sox's Jonny Gomes watches his three-run home run during the sixth inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

St. Louis Cardinals' Carlos Beltran hits a single during the third inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series against the Boston Red Sox Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — There's no telling how these wacky World Series games will end.

One night after a rare obstruction call, Jonny Gomes hit a decisive homer when he wasn't even in the original lineup and Koji Uehara picked off a rookie at first base for the final out.

An entertaining, even goofy World Series is tied at two games apiece following Boston's 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night, which ensured the title will be decided back at Fenway Park.

"What's going on inside here is pretty special, magical," Gomes said.

Inserted into the lineup about 75 minutes before gametime, Gomes hit a tiebreaking, three-run shot off reliever Seth Maness in the sixth inning.

Felix Doubront and surprise reliever John Lackey, both starters during the regular season, picked up for a gritty Clay Buchholz to help the Red Sox hang on.

And of course, another bizarre ending: Uehara picked off pinch-runner Kolten Wong — with postseason star Carlos Beltran standing at the plate.

Of the 1,404 postseason games in major league history, the last two are the only ones to end on an obstruction call and a pickoff, according to STATS.

"It was the first time for me to end a game like that as far as I can remember," Uehara said through a translator.

Game 5 is Monday night at Busch Stadium, with Boston left-hander Jon Lester facing Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright in a rematch of the opener, won 8-1 by the Red Sox.

Gomes helped Boston get started in the fifth when he followed David Ortiz's leadoff double with a 10-pitch walk that tired starter Lance Lynn, who had faced the minimum 12 batters through the first four innings.

Stephen Drew's sacrifice fly tied the score 1-all, erasing a deficit created when center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury's third-inning error advanced Matt Carpenter into scoring position for Beltran's RBI single.

Ortiz, 8 for 11 (.727) in the Series after a three-hit night, was Boston's leader, smacking his hands together and screaming at teammates to get going when he pulled into second base on his double. Then, after the fifth inning, he huddled the Red Sox for a pep talk in the dugout.

"Let's loosen up and let's try to play baseball the way we normally do," Ortiz remembered telling them. "I know we are a better team than what we had shown. Sometimes you get to this stage and you try to overdo things, and it doesn't work that way."

Message heard.

"It was like 24 kindergartners looking up at their teacher," Gomes said, "He got everyone's attention, and we looked him right in the eyes. That message was pretty powerful."

Not long after, Gomes' drive put Boston ahead 4-1 in the sixth.

With adrenaline taking over, Gomes spiked an arm through the air as he rounded first base, yelled and banged his chest with his right fist twice. Teammates tugged on Gomes' beard for good luck when he got back to the dugout, including a two-handed pull by Mike Napoli.

Not exactly what Gomes expected when he arrived at the ballpark.

While talk of umpires' calls dominated discussion following two of the opening three games, this one turned on a manager's pregame decision.

John Farrell's original Red Sox lineup didn't include Gomes, but Victorino's back had been bothering him since Saturday, so Daniel Nava was moved from left field to right and from fifth to second in the batting order. Gomes was inserted into the No. 5 hole behind Ortiz.

"During batting practice, when I met with Shane today, he said, 'Yeah, put me in there. I'll find a way to get ready to start the game,'" Farrell said. "As we went through the other work, it became obvious he wasn't capable. And you know what? It turns out that his replacement is the difference in this one tonight."

Gomes had been 0 for 9 in the Series before the home run, and Red Sox outfielders had been 4 for 40 with no RBIs. Following Dustin Pedroia's two-out single and a four-pitch walk to Ortiz by Lynn, Maness threw five straight sinkers to Gomes, who sent the last one into the Red Sox bullpen in left as Matt Holliday kept running back only to run out of room.

"It was right down the middle," Maness said. "That's baseball, it happens."

Carpenter singled in a run in the seventh off Craig Breslow after pinch-hitter Shane Robinson doubled with two outs against Doubront on a ball that skidded away from Gomes. Junichi Tazawa came in and got Holliday to hit an inning-ending grounder to second, a night after allowing a tiebreaking, two-run double to Holliday.

Doubront got the win with 2 2-3 innings of one-hit relief. Lackey, the Game 2 loser and Boston's probable Game 6 starter, pitched the eighth for his first relief appearance in nine years, overcoming a two-base throwing error by third baseman Xander Bogaerts — Boston's seventh error of the Series — and a wild pitch.

With a runner on third, Lackey got Jon Jay to pop up and David Freese to ground out.

Uehara, Boston's sixth pitcher, got three outs for his sixth save this postseason, completing a six-hitter.

Lynn was the hard-luck loser, leaving with the score tied and two on for Maness, who allowed Gomes' homer on his fifth pitch.

It was a special anniversary for both teams. Exactly nine years earlier, the Red Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Cardinals across the street at old Busch Stadium for their first championship since 1918. And two years earlier, Freese hit a tying, two-run, two-out triple in the ninth against Texas and a winning homer in the 11th to force a Game 7, which St. Louis won the following night.

Buchholz, in his first appearance since the AL championship series finale on Oct. 19, fought through shoulder issues and his velocity topped out at 90 mph. He lasted a season-low four innings and 66 pitches before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter, but he allowed just an unearned run and three hits.

"We have guys with heart. Clay, he brought everything he's got," Ortiz said. "I have never seen Clay throwing an 88 mph fastball."

Fielding for the Red Sox became trouble again in the third when Carpenter singled to center with one out, and the ball appeared to take a high hop and roll away from Ellsbury. Carpenter sprinted to second on the second error of the Series by Ellsbury — who had just three during the regular season.

Beltran singled into center field two pitches later, making him 8 for 10 with 12 RBIs with runners in scoring position during the postseason.

There almost was another miscue in the fourth following a one-out walk to Jay. Freese bounced to Drew, and the shortstop grabbed the grounder on the run and flipped the ball with his glove high to Pedroia at second. He jumped and just got his left foot down in time to force Jay, who slid into him hard.

After Ortiz's double to the right-center field wall in the fifth, Gomes fell behind 0-2 in the count and then worked out his walk. Lynn appeared to be too fine with his pitches as he walked rookie Bogaerts, loading the bases, and Drew lofted a fly to medium left near the foul line.

Holliday's one-hop throw home hit the sliding Ortiz in the back and bounced away. Lynn recovered to strike out David Ross and induce an inning-ending groundout from pinch-hitter Mike Carp.

NOTES: St. Louis had been 8-0 this postseason when scoring first. ... Molina extended his Series hitting streak to seven games. ... Holliday argued with plate umpire Paul Emmel after he was called out on strikes in the fifth, and Cardinals manager Mike Matheny came on the field to make sure his left fielder didn't get ejected.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-28-World%20Series/id-3a06a6141c43434a95fe2a95ff3ed913
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